1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to thermally insulated holders or carriers adapted for use with single or two serving beverage containers. The invention is primarily directed for use with typical twelve fluid ounce beverage cans, however, it can also function with many bottled beverages.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Single or two serving beverage containers normally holding twelve fluid ounces have become extremely popular. Packaging beverages such as beer and soft drinks for public consumption in single or two serving containers has become extensive, especially the packaging of beverages in cans. These single or two serving cans are most often manufactured of aluminum, a metal which has good thermal conductivity. Unfortunately, the good thermal conductivity of the aluminum can quite often leaves the individual with a luke warm drink half way through the beverage. This has lead to the development of a variety of insulated beverage container holders adapted to assist in maintaining the temperature of the drink.
As American society today is very mobile, people tend to take canned drinks with them most everywhere they go. Beverage cans can be seen in automobiles, in boats, in airplanes, and on golf courses, particularly in and around golf carts. In the last few years, manufacturers of automobiles, trucks, boats, and other vehicles, have started to install beverage can holders as integral parts or addable parts. These can holders are normally structured to hold the most popular sized beverage cans which are currently the twelve fluid ounce size in America. Practically none of the beverage container holders in vehicles offer any significant insulation factor to keep a cooled beverage from rapidly becoming warm. Also, no provision is usually made in the holder hole size to accept anything other than the popular twelve fluid once beverage can. Therefore, the provided can holders in vehicles are useless for retaining a beverage can when in an auxiliary insulated holder.
There appears to have been no attempts made to solve the insulated container size problem relative to standard vehicular mounted beverage container holders in the past art patents we examined. In fact, the trend seems to be toward decorative and unusual insulated can holder forms. This is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,333, dated Apr. 5, 1988, granted to Lay et al for a single beverage can holder with lid, and in the Ayon et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,999, dated Mar. 28, 1989, for a beverage holder with lid which simulates a puppet in appearance. A mountable carrying case for canned beverages is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,844,459, issued on Oct. 29, 1974, to James L. Chambers. The Chambers case is adapted to be mounted to a tubular framing member of a golf cart. Also the Duane C. Rhodes patent granted July 17, 1984, U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,827, teaches a golf bag cooler kit for two canned beverages which is mounted to the side of a golf bag.
None of the past art patents show any devices directed towards a insulated holder useful by insertion into beverage can holders currently provided in most boats, golf carts, and road vehicles. We therefore feel our invention discloses new useful improvements and advantages not available in the market place or presented or anticipated in past art devices.